


so i put my middle finger up

by youtrashqueen



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Anger Management, Bitchy Reader, F/M, Funny, Growing Up, Peanut Butter, Peter Parker is an awkward teenager, Peter is a junior, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Reader has a specific look, Reader is named, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Swearing, Teen Angst, Teenagers, or trying to make it a slow burn, reader is also a superhero in training, reader is female, reader isn't very nice, still in highschool, that has an attitude problem, the plot isn't as bad as it sounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:33:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtrashqueen/pseuds/youtrashqueen
Summary: punishment turned into a mission to become better, survive teenagehood and grow up to bloom into the superhero your mentor believes you can be. not everything goes as planned, life throws obstacles your way and your snarky attitude and resting bitch face don't help smooth the road ahead, but your determination and indomitable will are gonna see you through this; that, or you're just gonna have to punch your way through it all. the story of a growing teenage heroine that gets tangled up with that of a growing teenage hero's.ps* it's better than it sounds, give it a try, yeah? putting it up to see how it's received and all, if it gets positive feedback i'll continue it, so lemme know if it's any good! (hiatus until after seeing infinity war/end of april)





	1. you can't surround a lion with a bunch of lazy sheep

 

* * *

 

“You _need_ to focus.”

“I _am_ focusing!” you took another sweep, claws out and jaw set. Black Widow simply ducked and kicked your feet from underneath you before you were able to understand what her next move was. Ungracefully, you slammed down on the floor, panting and groaning. This sucked so bad.

“No, you’re _not_ focusing. You’re just letting your anger cloud your mind. On the battlefield you don’t have time for temper tantrums. Your opponent won’t wait for you to finish stomping your foot to make a move and hope for the best.”

A lecture. Again. You growled deep in your throat and sat up on your knees and hands, trying to decide if you wanted to withstand this humiliation any further or not. “This attitude will be the reason why --” you cut her off by skidding up on your feet and without any warning, lunging at her in a barrage of punches and kicks. Right hook, left hook, round-kick, knee to the side, backflip, dodge, right jab, dodge, uppercut and spin kick -- _and fail_. In one complex move, she had blocked your movement completely and brought you down on your knees, arm held tight behind your back and her foot on your spine. “--you will end up dead and gone.” the redhead finished her lecture by twisting your arm harder to drive home her point. "And that's going to be on me for not training you properly."

“I’m done! I’m fucking done!” you slap the ground and she lets go. “You might have superpowers, but that can get you so far.”

You remained on the ground, scowling and glaring heatedly at the floor as you sat on your ass and kicked your legs out like the petty child you were being. Of all the other mentors, it had to be Black Widow that trained you to one day become an Avenger. She wasn’t letting you turn into what you really were, in hopes that you would learn to do without any of your...abilities, so to say.

Granted, you were pretty sure you’d completely overwhelm her in your other form. It was hard enough keeping the curse at bay. Draining every bit of self-control you could muster. She should at least acknowledge that, but instead she was lecturing you again --did she know how you struggled? Ugh!

“Get up, we’re done here.” the female avenger finally spoke up after a few moments of complete silence during which you sulked and fumed. “You aren’t evolving here or getting any better. I’m going to have a talk with Tony regarding this.”

This had you deflate visibly, shoulders sagging and a cold chill running down your back.

What? She was giving up on you? With widened eyes, you turned your head to watch her pat her neck with a towel, her back to you. Sure, you were stubborn and...tactless and maybe reckless, maybe had a few anger management issues, but, was that really enough to deter her from training you? “But --”

“I said we’re done here. Scramble.”

Swallowing thickly, you stood up and left the training room, heart racing and anxiety leaving a hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. The bruises no longer bothered you, neither did the exertion of your mentor’s brutal training programme.

* * *

 

  
See, when you thought about punishment, about Black Widow’s words regarding your development, you hadn’t thought about this. You never met Tony in person, just an iron man suit with his voice, but was this what their talk had been about? Moving you all the way to Queens?

Getting you enrolled into Midtown High? Science and --Fucking hell! What was this supposed to be? You weren’t good with this shit --maybe, chemistry, maybe biology too but the rest was shit! You were shit at this and keenly aware of it. You didn’t even get a say in this whole fiasco! Did they think you were some kind of genius that was just gonna fit right into the geek squad? It made you nauseous. 

_“This is so you can experience the real challenges of being alone, being independent, it’s a learning opportunity. Happy Hogan will be in charge of you while you stay there. All your reports go to him. Your only mission is to stop small crimes, no matter how small, help the needy...take the pulse of the city, learn. We all started from the bottom and so should you.”_

If you knew anything about Black Widow, you knew it was never how simple she made it sound and there was always something just lurking behind the veil. Regardless, it took two weeks to get your files in, settle inside the flat provided by Stark Industries, under the guise of an ‘internship/scholarship’ thing and getting to know the surroundings. The new highschool year just started, so it worked well, too well -- _almost as if it was planned to a tee._

She went as far as to provide you with a fancy shmancy suit. You never had a suit. So that was nice. In fact, you didn’t know if it came from her or Tony Stark, just that it had a smiley faced note on the metallic suitcase it was in, with your name scribbled messily at the bottom.

Now? Now you were battling with yourself and standing outside the highschool building you were supposed to attend, wondering if you could skip and if she would know. Better not anger the Black Widow or who knows, she might end up sending you to freaking Berlin next. And fuck that because you weren’t gonna start learning german anytime soon. This alone sucked the effort and life out of you enough. 

Defeated, you tugged at the collar of your nice white blouse and shifted the bag on your back, before you started moving towards the annoying hustle and bustle of the school grounds, one slow step at a time.

...

The first day proved to be, not very eventful. It was actually so boring you almost fell asleep during one of the classes. A few girls tried talking to you, complimenting your long and thick blonde hair, then your choice of clothing, trying to be nosy about the new girl, find some juicy gossip to whisper about. As soon as they found out you had a faint accent and were a foreigner, it was all set --they swarmed around you like bees. And then you started dodging any kind of attention possible, sticking to the stairs on the west wing of the highschool, which wasn’t as populated, devouring the peanut butter jar you had brought along inside your backpack.

Having to deal with people during lunchbreak was not something you particularly fancied, mainly because you were naturally grumpy and antisocial. Jesus almighty, you might end up punching someone or snapping at some point. This was annoying already, you didn’t want extra fries on the side.

Sighing, you chewed the crunchy peanut crumbles and leaned back against the rail, kicking your legs up and resting the heels of your pumps on the wall across. Another spoonful of peanut butter found its way into your mouth as you finally relaxed by closing your eyes, mind starting to wander on how your first day of patrol would go. A mischievous smile curled itself on your lips as you munched and scoffed at the prospect. Of course it would go by flawlessly, you weren’t some kind of noobie or anything --well, in _her_ eyes, you were. Your leg started bouncing lightly, showing your distress at the thought. _Fuck them all_. You’d show them just how amazing you were, how you could do much more and how their training was shit. They were shit, for sending you here. Eyes opened, you sucked on the spoon and glared viciously at the wall across from you. Yeah, you’d make them realize their mistake.

“Hey, you alright there?”

Like a cat that had just been caught off guard by a cucumber, you jumped and lurched back, pressed against the wall where your heels had been and chucked the jar of peanut butter at your assailant.

Which happened to catch it with crazy accuracy.

You two stared at each other for what felt like an awkwardly long eternity. Then he dropped the jar, as if he just realized he wasn’t supposed to catch it. Incredulously, you glared between the broken pieces on the ground and his anxious expression. “O-Oops, I --it slipped!”

Your brows furrowed together and your mouth opened in disbelief. “It didn’t!”

“I --yes it did! I didn’t--”

“Bullshit!”

“Woah, you don’t have to get all --”

“Yes I do! You dropped it on purpose! What’s your problem, dude?”

Clearly riled up, you shot to your feet, feeling your rage just bubbling through your veins -- _ah shit_ , this was exactly what Natasha had been lecturing you about. This revelation allowed you to clench your teeth and snap your gaze away from the lanky and shaggy looking guy. “H-Hey, I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t --”

“Whatever!” with that shouted at him in a heated angry tone, you grabbed your bag and skirted past him. “I just wanted to see if you were alright!” he yelled after you, but you didn’t turn, just continued to stomp your heels on the tiled floor as far from this idiot as possible.

“I’m Peter Pa- Parker... by the...way…” he trailed off, sounding awfully defeated.

Good, he gave up. Probably assumed you were out of earshot, even though your senses were heightened beyond what humans could comprehend.

 _Huh_. So why didn’t you hear him when he came up to you?

Must have been spacing out pretty bad then. Next stop? History class. The Sokovia accords were a trend during those by what you heard from those nosy cheerleaders.

...

  
Patrolling came much much later, because as soon as you were back from your first day of school, you just passed out face first into the couch of your small living room. Didn’t even get to kick off the high heels.

Ah shit and you had homework.

When the hell were you going to do that? Looking at the positive side, at least you had a badass suit to try out. A two-piece with an utility belt strapped on a nice harness that went around your thighs, your middle and over your back, then arms, finishing in fingerless gloves, protected by black metal plating that also covered your knuckles so that you could pack a damaging punch if needed. The top was fur trimmed, resembling the mane of a lion and your head mask covered half of your face, leaving your mouth completely free. The helmet ended in two protrusions that looked like cat ears, but were actually goggles that could be easily shifted over your eyes and then back over your head. Speaking of eyes, the mask sported holes for them, as your vision didn’t need much assistance considering your ‘gift’, but the goggles had some nice vision settings and tracking applications that were pretty damn nice.

The suit did have a prehensile tail made of vibranium-adamantium alloy which ran from your head to your tailbone, stuck tight to your spine and connected to the helmet, which contained sensors that reacted to your brain’s neurotic impulses. This meant that the tail moved naturally with your whole body as an extension of it, keeping you on your toes at all times, aiding with balance, being able to sustain your weight in case of a fall and ultimately serving as a weapon-like whip that you could use in battle. Your boots were knee high, fur trimmed as well, steel toed with hidden knives in the soles, acting as claws upon need. The whole suit was connected to your brain in a way, so it reacted to your needs in perfect synch, for example, activating the retractable claws from your arm gauntlets, or shooting your tracking device and finally, controlling your ‘grappling hooks’ in case you needed to bounce.

You discovered all this after a whole hour of testing it in an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Queens. This was the highlight of the day --oh and not to add the badass gadgets you had and the emblem of the lioness head on your chest. That was also awesome.

You couldn’t recognize the texture, the material it was made of, but it was snug, tight, yet not uncomfortably so; the pants made your ass look heavenly too. The only vulnerable spaces it left out was the stomach, exposing your midriff, however, given your alter self and how durable you really were, well, it didn’t matter much.

So far, this part of the city was calm and petty crime was so not you. Avengers didn’t deal with small shit like bike theft or car theft or some little ass robbery in a corner store. This was for the police, so of course you wouldn’t get involved in that kinda stuff, even if your mentor insisted upon it. You were so beyond that.

Grunting, you dangled your legs over the ledge of the building’s rooftop you had taken shelter on, golden reflective eyes moving over the city lights underneath your boots. This was incredibly boring and a waste of your time, which you could be spending training with the big guys, playing in the big leagues.

“This fucking sucks.” your distorted voice filled the quiet air, wind whipping through your collar’s fur. Deciding that you’ve done enough for the night, you flipped one of the many pockets of the belt open and fished out a little old fashioned phone. You could never get into that new tech stuff with their smartphones and all that. Batteries barely even held on any more, what were you gonna do if you needed to call someone urgently and your phone died spontaneously? Not a pretty scenario.

Well, here goes your first report.

_Ring. Ring._

Right, Happy wasn’t gonna answer his fucking phone. “Hey...Happy.” you paused “This is my fucking report. Nothing’s going on. Bored as hell...gonna head back in. Could you tell Natasha that I want out of here? Like, seriously, it’s awful and I’ve got better things to do than...be babysat by you and going to this stupid highschool. What’s the point to it anyway? Whatever. Bye.”

You tapped the red button and stuffed the phone back in the same pocket.

That went well. Well, there was homework waiting for you. Sighing, you pushed yourself up on your feet and stretched, a very unlady-like yawn spilling from your mouth as you popped a bone or two. You scratched at your shoulder and were about to jump off --when the most peculiar thing happened.

Some figure swung by, dressed in blue and red, using some kind of white ropes that somehow stuck to the building surfaces they were aimed at. Your eyes widened as you watched them shooting some of that weird ass rope mid-oscillation-- _wait_ , wasn’t this that new weirdo on Youtube? Spider brat? Spider dude? It was the talk of the highschool. With a predatory glint in your eyes, you remained still, holding your breath as he passed by your location, sparing you a single glance when he moved by, in just a fraction of a second, he caught your gaze and it was…

Freaking creepy. You shuddered.

Time to get the hell out of here then, because you sure weren’t in the mood to give him any explanations as to why you were looking like female tarzan perched up on a rooftop at this time in the night. Just as you predicted, he swung on the top of a building not far from yours and almost missed the landing altogether, causing you to stare quizzically at how he struggled to get himself straight. Then he turned towards you with a dramatic twist of his body.

Yeah, _no_.

In an instant, you spun on your heel and jumped from the ledge, sprinted inhumanly fast towards the opposite ledge, jumped over that as well and landed on the next rooftop, continuing the same pattern until you suddenly slid down a fire escape and slipped into a dark alley. From there, you stuck to the shadows and the fire escapes, until you reached your area and snuck back inside your flat through your balcony doors.

Phew.

That was a ride. Time to research that wannabe hero. Halfway through the living room, with the literal pants around your ankles -- _“My name is no, my sign is no, my number is no, you need to let it go, you need to let it --”_ you plunged over your couch, where your personal phone was ringing embarrassingly loud. Shit, you really needed to change that ringtone.

“Yes...mom?”

Reverting back to your native language was odd, especially after a whole year cooped up in the Avengers ‘home’, stuck in a country that spoke a different language altogether. It wasn’t as if you hadn’t studied it, in fact, you were quite good with some languages and had an affinity to learning foreign tongues fast, but it still felt weird in your mouth.

“I’m good, just finished my homework.” you smiled and relaxed back on the armrest of the couch, kicking off the suit pants and crossing your bare legs at the ankles. “The scholarship is going great, I’m learning so much…” speaking to your mother always put you at ease and soothed your mind.

“I miss you too...I promise I’ll come visit as soon as I can. Maybe I can save enough money for this Christmas...or Easter! My job is going great too, don’t worry...I have everything I need, food, the rent is cheap...everything is nice…” you started rambling on as you decided to stand up from the sofa and begin pulling parts of your top off, stalking through the small studio and kicking boxes out of the way as you went.

“Haha, yeah, you know I’d give a limb for some of your home-cooked meal!”

After a whole hour of talking and catching up with your mother, you finally bid your goodbyes and told her you loved her, reassured her that you were alright on your own --and then, you were alone again.

Was this perhaps why you were stationed here then? Because of this wannabe hero dude in a blue and red spandex? You would research him, see what’s up with him and find out more if possible.

Maybe he was actually a villain or some kind of rogue vigilante, mercenary, assassin, contract killer! Scoring some bonus points with the Avengers for bringing some crazy ass dude in, sure sounded great.

 


	2. and no i don’t say sorry and no i ain't perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! this is my first fic in the marvel universe  
> to be honest, i loved the homecoming movie so much i just had to give this a try, write the struggles of a teenage hero  
> because that's so fun and the movie just did it so well, i was impressed!  
> that said, this is kind of an oc, kind of a reader fic, so i hope you'll like her and her origin story  
> if you like it, please leave a comment, a kudos and bookmark? ; u; / it means a lot to me!
> 
> song to go with this : College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero

Yeah, he was no villain.

Currently you were sitting alone at the furthest cafeteria table you could find, laptop open and headphones plugged in, bouncing your leg to Meghan Trainor’s Me Too, while scrolling through articles upon articles on ‘Spider-Man’.

How the hell did you even miss these headlines? Well, you admit, you were never interested in any news or Youtube sensations, but now you felt kinda stupid.

Besides, you were sorta kinda new to New York and the crazy social media thing going on, like Instagram or Facebook and Twitter. It was embarrassing, really, for a girl your age. You blamed it on your ignorance and living in a traditional household that wasn’t a fan of gifting a six-year old a tablet or letting them spend half their existence in front of a computer. Your mother and grandfather got you more acquainted with the library's history and literature books, and the outdoor games, like tag, hide-and-seek, hopscotch, marbles, jump-rope and how could you forget marco polo. It never occurred to you how socially obscure you were, not until some of the girls asked to follow you on Instagram. Needless to say, you started your lunchbreak creating accounts --it was actually easier than you thought.

It seemed kind of silly to rely so much on social media.

But it had a lot of information that you could absorb, like learning that peeps did homework together in a group on Facebook. You weren’t completely isolated from the internet era, you did have a computer back home, the old kind, but it was in good condition, and you knew about Google, thank you very much. It just never interested you before and you would go days and weeks without even a peek. Granted, you had been kind of busy, attending school back home and taking some drug dealers off the streets --for which you didn’t need the internet --and then the whole avengers recruitment happened and here you were. Chewing on your lip, your finger slowly pulled down over the touch pad, a clip playing on Youtube of that same spider dude literally catching a car before it hit a bus, with his bare hands.

There were many others and the most striking thing you noticed was that his suit seemed to have changed in just a couple of months.

“He’s pretty awesome right?!”

Holy mother of jesus! You almost punted the poor fat guy that was standing over your shoulder. You didn’t even realize your music wasn’t playing anymore, but you became keenly aware of how distracted you had been if this dude managed to sneak up on you. He seemed like he didn’t expect your reaction, what with how fast you whipped around with your arm pulled back and fist ready to strike.

“Uh..”

_Awkward._

Clearing your throat and looking around to see if anyone noticed your little stunt, you pulled your earphones off and over your shoulders. “Y-Yeah, pretty...awesome,” you agreed reluctantly, trying to relax.

“Sorry, kinda instinctual reaction? Took...ummm...judo classes for...my whole life…” you trailed off into a lie, right through your teeth. The guy seemed to buy it and his face broke into a grin. “Nah, it’s fine! I get it,” he laughed it off with a dismissive shrug, skirting by the table and sitting down across from you.

“You’re the new girl huh? I’m Ned Leeds!” he extended his hand over your laptop and you reluctantly shook it. “Katerina Belov.” you replied simply, losing interest quickly in whatever he wanted to say.

“Oh man, russian? Even russians know about Spider-Man right? Wait, you don’t sound very russian, not like the ones in the movies at least,” he started blabbering, making you almost cringe.

“Umm...sure, it’s because I’ve lived...around…and my accent kinda...mellowed…it’s never like the movies make it sound...either?” you answered as calmly as you could, brows drawn together. Figured this was a good way to learn social skills that didn’t involve punching your way through it or screaming and arguing.

“Oooooh,” his mouth turned into an expressive _‘o’_ and he nodded as if understanding “That makes sense, yeah,” and you felt kinda bad, because he seemed genuinely nice and you could tell he was trying to make something happen here, but you weren’t one for friendships and bonds of whatever the hell he wanted. This was strictly business, besides, you were never a social butterfly that relied heavily upon human contact or interaction, so being alone never bothered you, it was actually sort of a comfort bubble.

“I’m just gonna --” you pointed to your headphones as you lifted them back over your ears, at which he nodded again, saying something like ‘yeah yeah sure’. Good, you could ignore him then and focus on your secret mission.

 _Click_. Meghan Trainor’s Lips are movin’ started playing.

Eventually he left your table to go join someone else at some other table, judging by how he waved enthusiastically and bumped a bit into the table in his haste. You didn’t care enough to look.

 

...

 

“--Cause every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top,” what was it with these songs that made them so addictive? Before you knew it, you were in your suit, doing a funny dance on yet another song of the artist you’ve been listening to for the past week.

This time, you went out to patrol after school, in hopes that you wouldn’t come face to face with the other dude, not when you still had to do extensive research on him. And because you were in a good mood, you saved an old lady from being ran over by a truck. Turns out her cataract was very bad. After that, it was pretty boring, just practicing your jumps and landings and then seeing how far you could climb only using your finger claws and then comparing the progress to when you used your suit’s retractable ones. It was faster with the suit’s.

When the song was done, you jumped up on the ledge of the rooftop, overlooking most of Queens. Your tail whipped behind you, signaling your irritation at how you were wasting your time. Again. Why couldn’t there be some alien invasion to stop or some evil dude trying to destroy the world, some asgardian asshole rubbing his hands together and concocting a plan to enslave humanity? Grunting, you turned off your old as dirt ipod and stuffed it back into your utility belt at your back, along with the in-ear headphones.

The wind was stronger at this height and you sniffed the air, taking in all the different scents of the city, toxic and not.

“I know cats are said to have nine lives, but are you sure you wanna test that theory?”

Your breath hitched.

In an instant, you turned around, eyes widened and claws drawn out in a fighting stance that came naturally after how many times you did it with your mentor. “Woah there, didn’t mean to get your hackles up,” his tone was awfully amused behind that red mask, bordering on cocky.

The same wannabe hero you’ve been ‘researching’ was crouched up on the rooftop access hatch, staring down at you. He stood up a second later and in one graceful flip, landed right in front of you, making you hiss and stumble back over the ledge.

He was quick to grab your arm and pull you back, a feral growl deep in your throat prompting him to let go as soon as you were stable, and raisee his hands up as if to show you that he meant no harm. “What do you want?” spiteful as ever, you hopped off the ledge and went around him with hostility, golden eyes and black slitted pupils watching him closely.

Even if you had fallen, you weren’t worried. You knew you would have caught yourself using your claws. His help was not needed and you didn’t appreciate it one bit.

“Uh, well, just wanted to say hi to a fellow--”

“I’m not your fellow anything.” you interrupted him, crossing your arms over your chest defensively. He allowed the distance you put between you two and stood where he was, thankfully. “Well, you got a suit and all, figured you were a hero.”

“You like jumping to conclusions, seems like that’s your favorite sport so far.”

“Witty,”

“Bugger off!” enough of all this talking! You weren’t here to listen to this guy. Making up your mind, you turned to leave.

“Hey, wait!”

You were going to punt this guy to the moon. “Stop talking to me! We’re not even on the same level!” you spat angrily, jabbing a claw in his direction “I’m an avenger in training, you’re just --” but he interrupted you back, taking a step forward “Oh man, really?” your face scrunched up in confusion at his excited tone. “Me too! Did Mister Stark make your suit too? Dude, how many features does it have? Wait, do you have Karen in it too? I mean, you might call her differently, she’s actually --”

“What?”

What the fuck? Excuse him? He was an avenger like you? Mister Stark? He stopped his rambling and turned his face towards you, eyepieces that resembled camera shutters squinting in what you assumed were his eye movements, to help filter stimuli.

“What?” he asked after a short awkward pause in which you just stared at him incredulously. Your distorted voice made a whine, which you choked down by clearing your throat. “Stark made you the suit?”

“Yeah! He really outdid himself, excessively I mean,” he laughed sheepishly and looked down at the black cuff things around his wrists, eye-pieces widening slightly. “Are we talking about the same Tony Stark?”

He tilted his head to the side. “I think so? He’s this tall” he gestured with his hand over his head “and has that fancy trimmed beard, dry humor, iron suit --”

“You met him?” your mouth was open in disbelief. Tony Stark actually interacted with this weirdo? The time you’ve spent in that place, and you had never seen the man in person, only your mentor, the Black Widow. Then again, their headquarters used to be the Stark Tower before, time during which you hadn’t been there. With the new headquarters, it was easy to never bump into another avenger. The only ones you’ve seen so far were Vision, Scarlet Witch and mentor, of course. Besides, Mister Stark never bothered with these kind of things, at least that’s what she told you and now…

“You didn’t?”

“...W-Well, I was too busy training to become an avenger! Of course I didn’t get to meet him. You have no idea how strict the schedule is, especially with Miss Romanov as a trainer --”

“Holy --you’re being trained by the Black Widow?”

At his awestruck tone, you puffed out your chest and placed your hands on your hips, pretty darn glad you one-upped him. “The one and only.”

“So why are you here?” his eyepieces narrowed. “...extensive training.” you quickly blurted out, clearly flustered. You weren’t about to tell him that your mentor was not happy with your attitude and this was supposedly a lesson in growing the fuck up and getting a grip.

You cleared your throat. “It’s classified mostly. I can’t tell you. I don’t trust you. First I have to make sure your story checks out and for that I need to contact the one that is in charge of me while I’m here.” you continued to fluff it up, in hopes that you could just slip away.

“I have someone chaperone me too...but he rarely answers my calls or messages.” he offered, shrugging at the end with a faint chuckle “funny how his name is Happy when he’s grumpy half the time, though, he’s not that bad after you get to know him,”

Right. You were done. Happy was supposed to be your --”Not a chaperone.” you grunted, turning your back, ready to leave for the second time now.

“Wait!”

Ugh! What now? He just fucked up everything you believed in. “What?” you snarled, twisting around with a heated glare.

He rubbed the back of his neck almost nervously. “W-Who are you? Am I gonna see you again?”

“Lioness.”

“Cool name, goes with the suit and --” but before he could say anything else, you had already jumped to the next roof and were off at an impressive speed and acrobatic feats.

“...all…”

 

* * *

 

The next few days, you felt extremely demoralized. You tried to get a hold of Happy, left him a few hundred messages, ranting about this situation, but no reply back. School was starting to get on your nerves, especially the girls that kept trying to pull you to their tables or give you their phone numbers and befriend you, coax you into joining the basketball team or the cheerleading squad.

It was all so fake.

Most often than not, you retreated to that same staircase as the first day and preferred to eat your peanut butter straight from the jar, while scrolling through news on your laptop and listening to bad music. Your skills with the social media were improving and you found yourself checking things on your devices far more often than you would like.

Hell, you couldn’t even bring yourself to go on patrol anymore.

He was out there, why did they need the second best? Obviously he was more to them than you were, Tony fucking Stark sure made it clear. Made his freaking suit. Even talked to the guy. It’s as if meeting that wannabe freako diminished you in a way.

Made you feel like you weren’t good enough.

Like you didn’t stand out at all.

And why would you? Your abilities were a curse. Literally. You screwed around with an old egyptian artifact, an old statue at your grandfather’s museum in Moscow, an artifact that you weren’t supposed to even touch and brought upon you the wrath of Sekhmet, the lion-headed warrior goddess, once you broke it into millions of pieces on accident. But you were just a child! You didn’t know any better. The consequences were catastrophic for you.

It turned you into a beast reigned by anger and vengeance.

Changed you so much. Your grandfather found you that day, huddled into a corner of his office, the statue smashed on the floor. He was the one that helped you understand, that kept your secret, that researched everything, spending sleepless nights trying to fix this. Thankfully, your mother never found out, he discovered a way to placate the goddess through some ancient ritual, lessen the curse and mellow the wrath of the lioness. He never told you what he did and for the most part you had been unconscious, but it had the desired effect. Thus, you could return to your human form after the ritual was done and over with. Not quite rid of it, but able to skirt around it somewhat.

Granted, it took you months to get it under wraps and usually, your emotions were tied directly to the beast within you. Anger made it come out, made you thirsty for vengeance and blood, feelings that terrified and confused you because they weren’t your own. They didn’t feel like your own.

For those months, you stayed with your grandfather in Moscow and returned home to your mother when you knew you could control this form. It was an extended vacation, as your grandfather eloquently put it. With time, you discovered that you could manage feats impossible to normal humans, you could lift cars and you could shove buses out of the way, you could see at night, hear things from miles away, sniff out scents, run like the wind and jump incredibly high, climbing buildings in seconds.

Everything was enhanced to a point where it became awesome. You became bolder, more daring, donning a halloween cat mask and a badly cut costume to fight the petty thieves and help the people in need. Your area of operation extended with time and that’s how Black Widow came across you, saved your little ass from getting turned into a cheese grater at a shootout between russian gangs, where you bit more than you could chew. She said you held a spark in your heart that she’s not seen in a long time, a strong will to do good and the means to do it.

And then it was all history.

Now? Now you didn’t feel so special anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to leave your feedback, kudos and bookmark!  
> i wanna know if i should continue this story orz


	3. let's go up in flames, pretty lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! thought i'd update, give a bit more so you guys can get a feel of the whole thing  
> umm, please comment? i hope i did peter some justice  
> kudos if you enjoyed, bookmark etc.
> 
> song to go with this : Bryce Fox - Horns

The first month of school went by without you even batting an eyelash. Grudges were something you could keep for a very long time, which is why you had turned off your ‘work’ phone and stopped patrolling. No reports came from you and you blatantly ignored anything and everything happening on the streets of Queens.

Hell, on your way to school you witnessed a car theft in progress, but you simply passed by, ignoring the dude with a sock on his head completely. Who cared? A few strides ahead, you heard the screeching of tires and the yells of the owner. The car passed by you and some stubby old man tried to run after it, panting and shouting between hungry gulps of air.

“Don’t worry, Spider Man is going to save you!” you spat in a fake ass cheery tone as you resumed your walk to school with a roll of your eyes.

At school, you successfully made it clear to everyone that you weren’t going to be part of any clique or team, choosing to go your own lonely path, because that suited you best. And you weren’t going to bend over backwards just to make ‘friends’. Black Widow understood that you didn’t play nice with others and you weren’t one for team work, which is why she chose to isolate you from the other potential trainees and mentor you alone. Perhaps that backfired, because you were clearly agitated by the fact that there was some other wannabe avenger running loose in your area. Your territorialism knew no bounds, if you said so yourself and it couldn’t be helped either. His existence alone felt like a threat to you. Him breathing your air made it painfully obvious that he was a league ahead of you, not under you.

And that made you angry.

Salty didn’t even begin to describe how you’ve been the past weeks. Not even close. You weren’t salty, no, you were _the_ freaking dead sea. You slammed your locker door shut, startling three cheerleaders that were chattering two lockers down from yours.

“Penis Parker!”

Jesus almighty, you were already cranky, you didn’t need more reasons to smack someone with your locker door repeatedly. During your short time here, you learned pretty fast that Flash Thompson was that arrogant rich bully and Peter Parker aka the guy that broke your peanut butter jar, was his main target. It was kind of hard not to notice the bonds when you had half your classes with the lanky-looking boy and his arch nemesis.

It was always a flurry of nasty glares from Flash whenever Parker answered correctly the questions that he would get wrong, or when he would get an equation right on the blackboard...or when he would score higher on his tests or pop-quizzes. At first it was funny to watch the whole thing unfold, you even drew some kind of sadistic amusement from watching the exchanges in the hallways, but then it got boring really fast and mostly annoying.

Like a broken record playing the same song over and over again.

Clearly, the nerdy Parker was smarter than Flash and one-upped him most of the time, therefore, the rich cocky asshole felt threatened, that and he wanted to look good in front of the cool crowd, score a few points with the pretty blonde cheerleader twirling her finger in her hair and smiling giddily.

You rolled your eyes and turned from your locker, books stacked neatly on one arm, refusing to watch or hear any more of this cringe-worthy show.

“Hey Kat, want me to carry those for you? They look pretty heavy!”

You halted and whipped your head around so fast you made him lurch back, a sneer on your face “I think the fuck not. And it’s Katerina for you, vyperdyskh.” --and for some reason, he thought it was fine to hit on you, get some piece of foreign ass while he was at it. So far, you used too many russian insults for it to be entertaining anymore, but he never let that get him down, he only tried harder and bragged about how you were playing hard to get, even though he clearly made it his mission to try out with various other girls. His all time favorites always happened to be blondes, though.

“That was so hot…” he muttered under his breath as you continued your strut through the halls, in search of the science lab and passing by Parker. Thompson followed after you in a jog, making sure to shove Peter into Ned on his way.

You had a feeling you would roll your eyes so hard during this class, that your eyeballs were gonna get stuck all the way back.

 ...

Unfortunately, today was experiment day. You were complete shit at this whole thing and because you had to pair up, you needed to find the nerds to do your part as well. Noticing your eyes scanning the tables and available spots on the forming teams, Flash waved his arm to get your attention, his other hand shoving aside an asian chick that looked completely baffled.

You chose to ignore that. Instead, you fixed your gaze on the geeky duo : Leeds and Parker. They were always huddled together and smart enough to carry your weight. Without further ado, you calmly walked up to their table and settled in the chair next to the lanky one of the group. Ned peeked his head from Parker’s other side, eyes widened.

When you turned to glance at him with a quirked eyebrow, he dropped the bewildered expression and grinned nervously at you, offering a tiny wave of his hand, before he retreated and stood straight. Satisfied that you got that out of the way, you looked up at Peter as well, who was staring at you just as flabbergasted by your choice in seating.

“There a problem with me staying here?” you finally pointed at the elephant in the room, earning a quick shake of the head from the shaggy teen. That over with, you set your books down and opened the bigger one in front of you to hide yourself from sight, leaving enough space for your elbows. Testing the distance by extending your joints, you sighed with finality and placed your head down on your arms, crossed your feet at the ankles so the high heels didn’t bother you and got comfy in the seat.

“Hey, Parker,” you shifted so you faced his way, opening one honey brown eye. The teen looked down at you, visibly pale and nervous “Wake me up when class is over?” your voice sounded tired already and you could feel sleep slowly dragging you under.

He cleared his throat and nodded, fumbling with his book and glancing away “Y-yeah, sure. No problem, I’ll d-do just that, yep..” he squeaked and cleared his throat again, nodding once more without looking at you “You can count on me to do that, yep, I am definitely t-the guy for --ow -- _hey_!” Ned jabbed him in the side and Peter snapped his head at his friend. There was some silent mouthing between the two, judging by the jerking motions of their hands and faces, then Ned noticed you staring and nudged the jittery boy, who in turn twisted back in his chair, posture rigid, jaw clenched and a nervous side-glance your way. His heart was beating really fast too. 

Welp.

“Alright then,” you closed your eyes, finally, and relaxed your muscles. There was no threat and the buzzing and clinking in the lab made for some very soothing background noise as you drifted off.

* * *

  
“ _Dude_!” Peter hissed at Ned, who grinned in return and leaned over the table a bit to look at the blonde sleeping at the other end. Only eight minutes passed.

“Did you see Flash’s face when she came to us?” the brunet whispered back, not even looking at his reddening pal. The young superhero only frowned and shook his head. After his sophomore year and what happened to Liz, the way things were left, Peter decided he would not let himself get distracted again, for his own good and to avoid the situation of ever letting down another girl in the future. His dual life simply couldn’t allow him enough breathing space for that kind of commitment and wasn’t saving those in need more fulfilling than chasing after petty crushes?

Maybe it was the novelty of a new girl with a pretty face and alluring eyes that had him staring far too long for it not to be creepy. Fortunately, she never caught him and probably didn’t care either, so that was good with him, he was okay with not getting anything back, it made it easy to get over it. Maybe it was the confidence in her steps and the rare occasions when she smiled at lunch break, listening to her music and watching stuff on her laptop, or the cute dimples when she grinned --whatever _it_ was, he decided he wouldn’t let it affect him like he did with Liz.

Back then, he had to make a choice and ultimately, he hurt her, even if it was for the right reasons. If he had to make a similar choice again, he knew what he would choose, he knew what was more important than a date to homecoming or letting his heart break. The world wouldn’t stop for him and he shouldn’t be so selfish as to expect it to.

“You’re staring again,” came the hushed whisper of Ned, nudging his elbow lightly to get his attention.

“Dude, _stop_ ,” he managed to hiss back, forcefully prying his eyes off of their company and turning them towards the front of the classroom, where their teacher was explaining what their experiment was going to involve and what substances they were going to use. “Just trying to save you from the embarrassment of being caught,” his friend retorted, scribbling down the instructions on his Star Wars notebook.

Awkwardly and knowing Ned was right, the teen hero began writing down the notes as well. She probably sat with them so she could sleep during the class and not worry about the teacher bothering her. He noticed how bad she struggled with notes in these kind of classes and how she scrunched her face when she didn’t understand, or how she got frustrated and ended up angrily scrawling over whole page with her pen.

But she was good with Spanish, she always raised her hand and gave correct answers when asked. Her favorite seemed to be the history class, however. Not mathematically inclined, but definitely a whiz when it came down to subjects such as those two. Of course, there was the PE class that she also enjoyed, sometimes playing basketball with some girls from the school’s team and the other times burning through the teacher’s exercises like they were nothing.

More than often, he stumbled upon her on the staircase in the far west wing, where it was mostly deserted during lunch time. It’s just that the chemistry lab is there and he always stays after the class is over to do some of his own experiments, so it happens without him meaning to, like the first time he saw her.

He was just observant, that’s all. Besides, it was kind of hard to dodge her altogether when she was in half his classes and the same year as him. Ned told him back during the first week that she was looking at Spider-Man videos on Youtube. He smiled goofily.

“That’s too much!” Ned’s urgent hiss made him snap out of his thoughts, just now noticing how the mixed substances inside the glass recipient foamed and fizzled over the rim and down on the table. Frantically, he wiped his hands over the red apron and shoved his books out of the way, accidentally smacking their new companion in the face with his elbow.

She jerked up in her seat, staring up at him with wide eyes as if trying to understand what just happened. Both Ned and him froze as they watched her --then her nose started bleeding and the boys flinched at the same time.

As if just realizing her face hurt, she brought her hand at her nose and tentatively touched it “...what the…” --still disoriented, eyes watering at the sting, the blonde tried to stand up fast, but only tripped herself as if she hadn’t expected to have high heels on, twisted, fell backwards with the chair and kicked the table hard enough to rock it and spill the substances all over the floor, herself, the notes and the boys.

Peter stood there with his arms in mid-air as if he had tried to catch her but failed miserably.

The class fell silent.

“I’m sorry!” the teen suddenly blurted out in a higher pitched tone, flustered, embarrassed, _mortified_. He didn’t know which trumped over the other, honestly. In an instant, her fist connected with his stomach, hard, making him double over to catch his breath and take in the pain that surged through him. How did she have the strength to hit him and make it hurt? Millions of thoughts ran through his mind, but they were all banished as soon as her eyes met his, ignited, burning bright with fury.

“What’s your problem?!” and she didn’t seem to care about the scene they were causing right now. Sucking it up, Peter braced himself on the table with one hand and raised the other to show her he was no threat.

“It was an accident! I swear!” his voice still had a pitched tonality, croaking slightly from trying to clench his jaw and block the pain. Ned was speechless by his side, watching the exchange with eyes the size of saucers, trying to decide whether he should say something or not.

“I can vouch for that!” he finally chimed in, brows drawn together and winching. “All an accident!” he added with a nervous chuckle. Chattering resumed, mostly at how Peter Parker just got sucker punched by a girl and almost toppled over, the laughter from Flash’s table echoing through the class, until the teacher intervened with an authoritarian ‘ _get back to your assignment or I will fail the whole class_ ’ and then walked over to their table.

She gave them a stern look and hissed in a lower voice “To the principal’s office. Now.” jabbing her finger at the door of the lab. Katerina was about to argue, but stopped herself when the teacher gave her a ‘ _no-nonsense_ ’ glare and jutted her chin towards the exit with finality.

The blonde stormed out of the lab, followed by the meek duo, at a safe distance of course. At the principal’s office, they sat across from each other, the russian bouncing her leg impatiently, blood drying over her lips and nose red on the verge of swelling. Peter was pretty sure he was going to bruise really bad from her punch as well, but he couldn’t help feeling like shit when he would sneak a glance up at her face.

After principal Morita saw her state, he sent her off to the infirmary, but kept the duo so that they explained what happened. The three of them got detention of course, and the teacher from the lab was called to validate the story along with some of the students that witnessed it.

Nevertheless, Aunt May was getting a call. A fact that made him twiddle his thumbs worriedly the whole lecture.

So, now, after their story cleared out, the three of them sat down at detention, Katerina with an ice-pack over her nose, Peter with his head on his arms and Ned doing some of the day’s homework. Michelle was also there, doodling the angry blonde at the front of the classroom.

_He screwed up so bad._

Cringing at the scene that kept playing in his mind, there was just one question that bothered him the most. Why did she only get away with a little bump? No, he didn’t mean it as if she deserved to be in a worse state, but when he smacked her accidentally, he didn’t control the strength with which he did, it was raw, unchecked, that meant more damage should have been made, hell, enough to maybe knock her out completely and have her crash into the table next to theirs. The impact would have had to be...greater, considering his prowess --then there was her punch. It knocked the breath out of his lungs quite literally and he had been slammed into brick walls and fell from some scary distances, had half a building fall on top of him, so he knew what he could handle. Her hit was something he couldn’t --not that he was expecting it.

He peeked up from his elbows, brown eyes staring intensely at the back of her head. Was he losing his powers or was she something other than human?

What if she was --”Alright, scram you punks, detention’s over.” their PE teacher announced, jerking him out of his thoughts. As soon as he said that, the source of his distracted mind shot up, grabbed her bag and strode towards the door. She was going to pass by his desk, opportunity of which he took advantage and stood up just as she reached him.

The girl paused, clenched the hand around the ice-pack harder and sized him up silently. Honey browns mirrored dark chocolates, one gaze hostile, the other solemn and apologetic. A second later, she marched out the door, without a word his way.

Peter was left more confused than ever, millions of questions surging through his mind. He knew this situation would nag at him until he would find satisfying answers, after all, he wasn’t the kind of person that stopped pursuing his curiosities regarding something he did not understand.

Currently, _she_ was the something he didn’t understand.

* * *

 

  
How fucking _dare_ he fucking smack you in the damn face and almost break your damn nose? How _could_ he even manage such a feat? You cussed and kicked and stomped on your way out of the school grounds, fists clenched and stuffed inside your blazer’s pockets. There was so much rage bubbling through your veins, you needed to stop and breathe for a few times, managing to control the urge to punch something, break something or roar your distress. Sounding like such a proper lady --your mother would be so disappointed.

Every person walking up and down the same street as you, made you want to smack them, pour your anger out on them, see them bleed. “Shit!” --you ducked into the first alleyway and crouched, covering your face with your hands and trying to breathe normally, slow your pulse down, not let the beast eat you up from the inside.

“One…” inhale, exhale “Two…” inhale, exhale “Three…” inhale, exhale.

You continued until you reached ten and uncovered your face. God, you punched that boy and he only doubled over. That kind of hit, uncontrolled, it should have sent him flying. His hit shouldn’t have even hurt you, it should have felt like a boop on the nose.

What was that kid?

When anger was not clouding your mind, you found that the facts laid in front of your face were kind of disturbing. Did you just stumble upon an inhuman, like you? There were many around the world, you knew, hiding their true selves. Not many came out and registered, including you. This was temporary, however, until you became part of the avengers team as to not put you out there just yet. Black Widow saw to that.

More pressing matters seemed to come to light. This was something you needed to report.

Shooting back up to your feet, you considered your options and after you came to a decision, your feet started moving, out of the alleyway and towards your ‘home’. Maybe you should really start unpacking stuff and go shop for some groceries, you were positive the fridge was completely empty and you lived off the food of your neighbors by now.

That, and your peanut butter stock was running out.

After these tasks were done, you would call Happy. Speaking of neighbors, just as you were about to start up the stairs to the second floor where you lived, one of the twin grannies living under you, came out of their shared apartment. “Katie! Oh dear, what happened to you?”

No matter how many times you told them your name was Katerina, they still called you Katie, which you let slide because their cooking was to die for. They used to be prostitutes in their youth, a story that never ceased to amaze you. One thing led to another and before you knew it, you were inside their apartment, eating their chicken soup and chatting it up with them, ranting about your school day.

Gilda, the older one by one minute laughed wholeheartedly “Kick in the family jewels and he will never bother you again, deary,”

“Gilda!” Susie, the younger twin, chided, looking at her sister appalled. “What? You did it too with that young man back in the days, what was his name? Thomas?”

“That was centuries ago, but I felt bad nonetheless.”

“He’s probably dead by now, anyway.”

“Gilda!” --your eyes moved from one to the other, smiling and chewing. These two were really something, you wished you had a grandma so badass. Pretty sure they had lived through a lot too, considering they never ran out of good stories to tell you over the meals.

After a whole hour or so spent with the two elderly women, you finally resumed your track back to your studio, belly full and feeling content. Until you tried to unlock your door and found it open when you accidentally pressed the handle. You became alert in a second, perked up, pupils slit and claws out, a cold chill running down your spine. Who was stupid enough to break into your flat? Whoever they were, they were in for a surprise.

Inhaling deeply, you decided that ripping the bandaid off fast was the best way to go, so you burst in, banging the entrance door into the wall with a growling threat from your throat.

In an instant, you were kicked in the face, grabbed by the back of your knees and slammed on the ground so damn fast you couldn’t even get to see who did it. “I’d say welcome home, but I don’t think you’d agree,”

 _Freaking Natasha_. Leave it to your mentor to pull this shit.

Groaning, you sat up on your elbows and glared at the redhead as soon as she backed off and watched you with her arms crossed over her chest. Yeah, she didn’t look very pleased. Didn’t help that you couldn’t see her eyes because of her sunglasses.

“Heard you’re giving Happy a hard time. No reports, no patrolling, phone turned off. Mind telling me what’s going on?” while bombarding you with all of this, she calmly walked over to your windows and peeked through the curtains at the street below.

Suddenly, you felt like a child again. “Nothing,” you stubbornly muttered, looking away and sitting up on your ass.

“Managed to kick yourself in the nose or was it _nothing_ too?”

_Well shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vyperdyskh means someone who appears out of farting, literally  
> someone who thinks is really important, but isn't, basically
> 
> leave me some feedback, kudos and all, please! i like interacting with my readers ; u; /


	4. let me sit alone with the kerosene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update from yours truly  
> i'll try to update this as soon as i can, but real life might get hectic so there's that  
> leave me feedback please, i would love to hear from you guys
> 
> song to go with this : Jon Bellion - Guillotine ft. Travis Mendes

You eyed the two vodka bottles inside the shopping cart with apprehension, irises moving from the alcohol to the redhead pushing it through the aisles. Honestly, you didn’t know how to feel about this bonding moment with your mentor, but if her choice in beverage said anything, you knew there was gonna be some real talk involved.

Because you were pretty darn sure she wasn’t here to celebrate your first month in school.

“This is nice. Isn’t this nice?”

The bite in her tone didn’t go unnoticed. “Yep, nice. Very nice.” you managed to hum awkwardly, hands stuffed in your jeans jacket as you followed the infamous Black Widow through the supermarket. She didn’t give you a chance to complain or say no to this little domestic trip, not when she opened your fridge and saw nothing. To which you guiltily confessed you didn’t have time and ate at your neighbors. That and you were shit with cooking anyway.

Swallowing the rising anxiety whole, you glanced at her for the first time since you got here. It wasn’t often you saw her in civilian clothing, but you had to admit that it was a good look on her. Tight jeans, leather jacket, black shirt and sneakers --looking like a badass mom already. “Grab what you need,”

“What?” you squawked, eyes widening as if she just told you to go jump off a cliff. Turning sharply towards you, the redhead looked at your face from behind the glasses, having slid them down her nose just enough to make eye contact. “I said go grab what you need, did I let that slip in another language?”

“No m’am.” short and curt and you were off through the many aisles, grabbing things aimlessly with a constipated expression on your face.

Maybe you should come clean.

Tell her why you were acting the way you were acting and get it over with. That way, the torture would stop and she’d drop whatever this was trying to be. Usually, you and her had kind of a witty banter, cool aunt, problematic niece type of relationship, where she kicked your ass and taught you life lessons through said ass-kicking. Never ever was she ‘nice’ or silent...or patient. Hell, you could smell the tension in the air. Often you had to remind yourself of who she was and how good she was at it. As you returned with your arms full, watching the assassin so casually looking over a pack of gummy bears and then throwing it into the cart, you couldn’t really blame yourself for that particular information slipping your mind.

One hour later, you were sitting uncomfortable and awkward on your sofa, with Natasha next to you, taking sips from her bottle of vodka and watching desperate housewives on TV.

Well, this could have gone much worse, you presume as you stiffly pop a gummy bear into your mouth.

Your chewing is too loud and you choose to swallow it whole, casting a side-glance to the redhead.

“Spit it out already, brat,” she suddenly speaks, without even looking at you. Visibly, you bristle like a cat.

“S-spit out what exactly?”

Her head tilts to the side with an arched eyebrow, eyes dead on you in an ‘are you serious’ expression. Alright then, you sure needed to grow a pair for once. “Did you guys do it on purpose?”

Another chug of vodka and the black widow turned her body to face you, kicking one leg up on the coffee table. “Did what exactly on purpose? Use your words in comprehensible sentences, Katerina,”

A spark of irritation made your jaw tighten. “Putting me in the same fucking area as that spider fetishist dude,”

“Ah, so that’s what ate at you,” she scoffed, as if she couldn’t believe this was really the reason you’ve been acting like an overgrown baby. As if your temper tantrum was absolutely uncalled for. A primal unbound growl rose from your throat instinctively, fingers digging into the plush of the seating, the corners of your vision growing red as blood pumped faster.

“He met Tony Stark! He made his costume, he’s….I've never even seen the Iron Man, I’ve never been even remotely close to...why does he get to do that? Why does he get so much and I don’t? I’ve been training for the past year to be one of you! And that bug just comes along without breaking a sweat and gets a free pass... _why_? Furthermore, you guys put me in the area he operates within, so what? So you can make me see how much shittier I am than him? So I can realize that I’m not that special after all? That I’m just….you told me you’ve seen something in me that you’ve not seen in a long time, did he get the same speech too?”

Your nose was pulsing.

“Get a grip,”

What? The ripping sound of your cushion made you snap your eyes down...at your claws digging holes in the couch’s leather.

Oh shit. Your hands were also trembling really bad and your head felt fuzzy. Hell, you could swear you could hear your own racing heart rabbiting into your ears. “Am I even good enough? I feel like….I feel like you’re diminishing me, like you’re belittling me and it makes me so...fucking angry!” the keen at the end sounded completely inhuman, so you choked it down in your throat with a startled inhale.

Her eyes softened a bit as she watched you struggle, but there was no pity in them, just understanding.

“I didn’t think isolating you from the others would have this kind of effect,” she confessed, voice remaining neutral. “Clearly I made a mistake. You feel as if you must compete with Stark’s protege…” a sigh escaped her lips, eyes closing.

“So it’s true then--”

“Katerina, nobody’s out to get you, do you understand this?” when her eyes opened, they were fierce and calculating, causing you to clamp your mouth shut, making it painfully obvious that you had been in the middle of turning into the lioness. “Tony’s spider-boy doesn’t concern me, you’re my protege, you’re the one that matters to me. What I said back then, I meant it. I meant every word, I don’t sugarcoat it and you know it,”

Your claws retracted and your heart calmed, all that remained being guilt mixed with sadness, self-conscious, anxious.

“I chose you. Prove me that I was right to do that, show them what I saw in you. Kid, you’ve got a big bright heart. Don’t let it lose its shine with petty things like this,”

She reached up and gently bumped her knuckles to your chin, making you look up in her eyes. “And look, me and Happy go way back, don’t give him a heart attack, will you? He worries a lot, even if he doesn’t show. It would be really lonely without him around,”

You nodded, lips quivering and throat constricting.

God, you were so pathetic, you were craving attention like a starved man craved food.

But, you needed validation, you needed to know where you stood.

The end of the episode’s theme song resounded and you flushed in embarrassment. Natasha raised her hand and patted your head almost affectionately “It’s past your bedtime, go to sleep, tomorrow’s a school day too,” she stated simply.

Knitting your brows together, you remained glued to the couch. “Will you stay the night?”

“Yeah, but I’ll have to bounce in the morning. Stuff to do, people to meet,” she winked, leaning back into the couch. The finality in her tone made it clear that she wasn’t about to go into details with that, so you had to get your ass in bed.

Oh, but --”One more thing,” you paused as you stood from your seat, giving her an extremely serious look “There’s a kid that goes to the same school I was enrolled into, I think he’s inhuman, might be super strength. I was going to report this to --” her sudden snort made you stop in your tracks.

“Are you serious?” she watched you amusedly “You haven’t put two and two together, have you?”

You glanced to the side and then back at her.

_What?_

“That’s embarrassing,” she shook her head, making you frown. What was embarrassing? What were you supposed to put together? “Don’t you use your common sense and basic instincts?”

“...I don’t get it,”

“That’s why you’re in training,”

“...what?”

“Just go sleep it off, kid,”

Reluctantly, you did as she said, brushing your teeth, your hair, getting into pj’s and shuffling into bed with those questions etched into your mind. What did she mean by that? Was there something you missed? About Peter Parker, no less?

...

True to her words, when you woke up, there was no trace of the assassin, leaving you with more questions than answers and a note written in russian, saying that you should stop being a brat and resume your duties asap.

Chucked in the bin.

Not in the mood to deal with that. As you packed your school necessities, you let your eyes linger on your ‘work’ phone.

 _Fine_. You turned it on again.

Happy better be _happy_ now.

...

 _School was shit._ Banners of homecoming started appearing in every damn crack of the building, along with posters about some decathlon stuff that you really weren’t interested in. Truthfully, you felt like death, mainly because you turned and tossed all night about what your mentor had said.

“Hey Kat!”

 _Ugh_. Flash was leaned over half of your desk, trying to look cool while doing it. “You got a homecoming date?”

“I’m definitely not looking for one, if that’s what you’re asking,” you shot him down in two seconds flat. His face looked like it just fell, from his cocky grin to an insecure and confused mix of a puppy’s expression that just got kicked. With the proverbial tail tucked between his legs, the boy left back to his seat just as the first class of the day started with the Chemistry teacher walking inside.

Should you still report Peter Parker to Happy?

Just for the sake of your conscience, you were going to. During lunch break.

No matter what Natasha had said, this would make you feel better, even if you’d probably end up fucking up the kid’s life. At least it wouldn’t eat you from the inside, you selfishly told yourself while you opened your notebook.

Whispering to your right had you glaring, the cheerleader groupie making it hard for you to focus completely on what the lesson was about. Come to think of it, you just noticed the homecoming mania starting today, even though, you were pretty sure, it’s been a subject for a while, one that you hadn’t paid any attention to.

Maybe the approaching date was making spirits flare hotly and desperation to seep through.

“Can you tone it down?” you hissed in a hushed tone towards the girls. They paused and gave you a nasty look, before resuming their activity.

Grumbling, you turned your vicious eyes to the pages of the book.

...

  
Come lunchtime, you took your usual spot on the staircase, propping your feet up across the wall and your back on the rails. Instead of the peanut butter jar, you held your work phone in your hands, frowning at the device as if it was the devil himself.

Not a stretch, considering what it was for.

Ugh! What should you do?

You bowed your head and groaned. No, you couldn’t do it. You just --you weren’t that evil. What if the feds showed up at his door, what if this fucked up his life forever? He should be the one to make this choice, not you. If it were you in his position, you knew that you'd prefer breaking the news yourself and registering, instead of some stranger reporting you to the authorities. Not to add how much it would screw your private life, how your family would react to such news --why were you doing this to yourself? 

The work phone was tucked inside the backpack and the peanut butter jar was promptly pulled out for the hunger and rage to be stifled.

* * *

  
Peter Parker was at a loss for what to do.

He left Happy Hogan millions of messages regarding the girl and the incident, but no answer came back. As for the calls, they went straight to voicemail.

Not like he expected him to respond.

The new inhuman in school and the new avenger he met a few days back were too big of a coincidence to not be the same person. What were the chances that after he met this fiery hostile and...dare he say, attractive, new hero by the name of lioness --that he would also get punched by this crazy strong inhuman in his class. The real question was : what was she doing here? Was she sent to look after him? Was it nothing to do with him? Was she in training? Many other tangents took shape in his mind, but he settled for just those ones. She did say she was an avenger, so she wasn't a bad guy, he'd hate to have her as an arch nemesis. 

“Peter, are you feeling better?”

Aunt May’s voice broke through his train of thoughts, which inevitably derailed and he gazed up at her with wide eyes and at a loss for what to say. An awkward pause passed between them, while the woman stared at him from the door, one brow arched.

_Fast, do something a sick person would do!_

He fake coughed two times. “Uh, yeah, j-just a bit better...my throat’s still sore,” he lied...badly.

“Right,”

She rolled her eyes and walked further inside his room, letting her gaze check on any changes that might have occurred. After she learned about his ‘Stark internship’, her over-protectiveness had leveled up to the point where she checked up on him eight times a day. Not to add the choice words she had for Mister Stark, or how disappointed she was in him for not coming out to her about it. Regardless, she took it better than he expected. After a few months of reassuring her, making promises and compromising, of course.

Though, he couldn’t deny that it was becoming irritating at times. He wasn’t a child anymore, he didn't need protecting.

She had to let him go at some point.

Finally, after surveying the whole bedroom, she settled down on the bed, shoving one of his outstretched legs aside to make space for herself. “I know you’re not sick, so tell me what’s really going on,”

So then why did she let him stay home today after he pretended to have a sore throat in the morning? “It’s...complicated?” he squealed out pathetically, rubbing at his neck with a cringe.

“Try me,”

Reluctantly, he sat up straighter against his bunched up pillows and began twiddling with his thumbs. “There’s this girl --” “Oh, Peter!” her instant reaction made him flush and wave his hands furiously “N-No, May, it’s not like that, geez! Will you let me finish?”

Her smile got wider and she shifted again, clearing her throat. “Okay okay, I’m all ears,” she tried her best serious face, even though her lips were splitting into that smile from before.

“I think she’s an inhuman, like….a hero, like me. I met this avenger a few days back too, while I was on patrol--”

“You didn’t tell me about this,” she quickly retorted, raising both eyebrows and looking at him from beneath her glasses.

“W-well…” he stuttered “I-I didn’t think it was important?” his tone turned higher in pitch than before. Why was she being so controlling and difficult? He knew he was being selfish with this, especially after all she’s been through, especially since he was all she had now...but--

Deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…” he slouched, defeated. There was nothing he could do about it, not yet. He felt as if he would break her heart if he said something regarding these issues. 

She nodded after a few seconds, probably trying to gauge if he was honest in his apology or not, and gestured for him to continue. “...s-so….there’s also this new girl at school, she’s...she’s very strong, like inhuman strong,”

“How do you know that? Did you see her doing something?”

“...y-yeah, kinda,” he rubbed the nape of his neck nervously, remembering the bruise she left on his abdomen “The point is, I think the avenger I met and this new girl, are the same person. I’ve seen enough movies where that was a thing and it can’t be a coincidence,” he concluded, even though it sounded a bit lame now that he said it out loud. It made more sense in his head. Aunt May nodded, however, pursing her lips together and glancing side-ways.

“Okay?”

“But...I don’t know why she’s here. Is this some kinda test from Mister Stark? Is she here for some other reason?”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“...because she doesn’t know I know? Maybe she wants to keep it a secret or something, I’m trying to step into her shoes...I don’t know...I already called and messaged Happy, but there’s no answer,”

“I see. Would you like _me_ to call Stark?”

“ _No!_ ” not after the last time, not after what she said to him. That was an embarrassing situation he didn’t want an encore of. “I’ll just figure it out myself, y’know? I don’t wanna bring you into this,” he added after he blurted that out, to spare her the ache.

“I _wanna_ be part of this, Peter,” she countered, reaching out and placing a hand over his fiddling ones, offering a comforting squeeze.

How could he say no when she looked so earnestly at him like that?

God, he felt horrible, but he had to stand his ground, no matter how much he loved her. “Aunt May, I’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll figure this out....I’ll let you know how it goes?”

She sighed and took her hand back, nodding in defeat. “Alright, yeah, that’s fine. Do you promise you will?”

“Yeah, I promise,” he smiled sheepishly at her peering gaze. Her hand shot out with her pinky outstretched towards him. “Pinky promise?”

His smile widened to a grin at her antics and he raised his own hand with his pinky out, locking it with hers in a firm shake. “Pinky promise.”

As soon as she left his room, his smile faded and a worried expression plagued his features instantly. Chocolate browns fell down over the text messages he sent Happy, thumb sliding over them in anxious waiting.

_What if he was wrong?_

He typed another message, just to be sure, just to have his peace of mind. Tomorrow he would go back to school and test the waters with her. Surely, she figured out he wasn’t what she thought he was either, after all, if she was this strong, the hit should have had another effect, just like his hit should have had another effect.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek. God, how was he even going to bring _that_ up?

These thoughts alone had him twist and turn through the whole night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave kudos, comments and bookmark if you enjoyed it!  
> it motivates me to write and i'd appreciate it~


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